During the 1850s,
when he worked as kapellmeister at Weimar, Liszt composed a
series of twelve ‘symphonic poems’ - a thirteenth followed
later. In doing so he invented the term itself. Les Préludes,
the third of these works, was begun in 1848 and then revised
a few years later, the final version dating from 1853. It soon
became what it has remained ever since: one of his best-loved
compositions.

It is not hard
to understand why. The music relies on Liszt’s favoured principle
of development, the ‘metamorphosis of themes’, and the close
organic unity is allied to distinctive melodic invention, to
create a vivid orchestral environment. Although he was relatively
inexperienced as an orchestral composer and sought the help
of his friend Joachim Raff, the instrumental colourings are
imaginative and add a great deal to the musical experience.
These abundant strengths are clear enough in this well recorded
and well played account under the baton of the French conductor
Michel Plasson. At the same time, the rival recording on BIS
conducted by Frühbeck de Burgos with the Berlin Radio Symphony
Orchestra (BIS CD1117), gains from a particularly fine and
ambient BIS recording.

The other compositions
in Plasson’s collection include the under-rated Tasso,
a work on the large scale which finds Liszt at the highest
level of his inspiration. Perhaps the more extended scale challenges
listeners as well as performers, but both the Berlin Classics
and BIS performances are excellent. Tchaikovsky admired this
piece, by the way, to the extent that he used it as a model
when he composed his own Francesca da Rimini. The likeness
is uncanny. Plasson’s final apotheosis, the triumph that follows
the lament, has blazing brass and the requisite sense of musical
fulfilment.

Mazeppa is
another masterwork, though not without its vulgarities, which
include a banal fanfare theme signifying the hero’s triumph.
But play it for all it is worth, as here, and the strengths
outweigh the weaknesses. There is a celebrated recording with
Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic (DG 0289
447 415 2), but fine though that is, the Dresden orchestra
plays well and the recorded sound is more sophisticated in
Plasson’s
Berlin Classics version. This was recorded in 1994, but the
identity of the recording venue is absent from the details
on the disc, nor is there any information about the music,
save for a listing of tracks. In a competitive market-place
in the budget sector this penny-pinching approach is surely
a misjudgement. Poor presentation is hardly a help to anyone,
even the company itself.

When it comes to
the final item, Orpheus, Frühbeck de Burgos on BIS again scores
strongly. As the title would suggest, this is a particularly
lyrical composition, nicely shaped and well played by both
the Berlin (Burgos) and Dresden (Plasson) orchestras, whose
wind principals in particular emerge with credit. In either
case the recorded sound captures the atmosphere with much sensitivity.

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